Two | Dom
Two
Dom
“I know that you don’t want me here,” I said as I sat across the table from Jo and stared at her.
She had changed a lot since the last time I’d seen her, but for the better. She looked genuinely happy and still had that take-no-shit attitude that I always loved about her.
“What gave it away?” she replied sarcastically as she cocked her head to look at me.
The bar was relatively quiet, with her friends sitting across the room from us, keeping an eye on things to make sure she was okay.
I knew it was risky coming here, but after hearing what Tray was up to, I couldn’t sit back and let anything happen to her, especially not after hearing all the shit he did to her that I didn’t know about until now.
My blood boiled hearing the hurt in her voice as she said those words, but I knew the emotional pain was nothing compared to the physical pain he had caused her.
“I’m not the bad guy, Jo.”
“You’re not a good one.”
I nodded my head and pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. I had forgotten how much of a firecracker she really was.
“I fucked up. I admit that, and I’ll continue to admit that for as long as you need to hear it.
But at the end of the day, I’m the one who showed up to help you.
And just for the record, I didn’t know any of that shit had happened until today.
Tray never said anything about what was happening.
I suspected he was hurting you because I saw a few bruises, and I noticed how you changed around him, but I swear to God, Jo, if I knew he was doing that shit, I would have killed him then. ”
My jaw clenched as I struggled to rein in my anger at what that asshole had done to her.
“I’m surprised he didn’t brag to you about it,” she said dryly. “He was always so proud of what he did. Why would this be any different?”
“I’m really sorry for not being there for you the way I should have. If I would have known...” I blew out a sigh and shoved my hand through my short hair in frustration.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s all over.”
“But it’s not, Jo,” I said as I leaned forward and looked at her, hoping she would see the urgency in what I was saying.
“He’s been obsessed with finding you for a while now.
He knows that your uncle is dead and that you were at the compound when it happened.
You know how much he hated Randy, especially after he stepped in and forced him to sign the divorce papers.
Now that Randy is gone, you know Tray is going to try to step in and take over that territory.
He’s going to recruit whatever guys were left from Randy’s crew.
If you thought he was powerful before, that power is only going to grow. ”
“Do you know what I think is funny?” Jo asked, resting her arms on the table in front of her, her expression blank as she stared at me.
“What’s that?”
“That you know so much about Tray and his plans, yet you claim to have cut ties with him. You walk in here, asking me to trust you, but how do I know that you’re not here to deliver me to him yourself?”
I leaned back in my chair and looked at her as I thought about what to say. Knowing that actions always spoke louder than words with Jo, I lifted the bottom of my shirt and watched as her eyes immediately zeroed in on the scar that went from my chest down my stomach.
“When it comes to Tray, everything has a price. Even leaving.”
She let out a gasp as she lifted her fingers to cover her mouth and stared at it.
I had already unloaded a lot of information on Jo as it was, which meant now wasn’t the time to tell her that walking away from someone I once considered my best friend had almost killed me.